Business, Finance & Tech
Meta Ordered to Pay $25 Billion in New Mexico Privacy Case
Meta has been ordered to pay $25 billion after a New Mexico jury found the social media giant misled users about how it protected their personal data.
The judge said the harm in the case was difficult to overstate, citing Facebook’s assurances that users controlled their information and how it was shared.
During the trial, jurors watched a video deposition of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg as he was questioned about a 2010 opinion piece in which he said Facebook did not share personal information with people or services users did not want.
The state first sued Meta in 2021 following revelations that Cambridge Analytica, a now-defunct political consulting firm, had collected Facebook user data for voter profiling and targeting. Meta previously acknowledged that information from as many as 87 million users had been improperly shared with the firm, which worked with the Trump campaign ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
The controversy also drew scrutiny in 2018, when Facebook executives were questioned about why users had not been immediately notified that their information had been obtained. Then-Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said the company believed the data had been deleted.
Meta says it will appeal the ruling, arguing the lawsuit seeks to impose a tax on speech and establish new rules governing what people can say online.
New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torres pushed back against that argument, saying the case is about the company’s handling of consumer data and allegations that it misled users.
The ruling represents another major legal challenge for Meta as questions over data privacy and social media accountability continue.
By: NBC Palm Springs
October 22, 2026
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